In Panevėžys, some cultural institutions are starting to push cash out of circulation. Banknotes and coins in customers’ wallets are no longer interesting to their managers. In the capital of Aukštaitija, the doors of the Art and Photography galleries will open from April 1 only to visitors who pay with a bank card or make a bank transfer.
It will no longer be possible to pay cash for tickets to exhibitions, Easter bunny sculpting and other educations held in the Art Gallery.
Such news caused considerable indignation among Panevezys residents. Some chalked up the news to a premature April Fools’ Day joke.
“Is this an April Fool’s joke already?” If not, good luck. You will definitely lose some visitors. Or maybe that’s the goal? What is the Panevėžius art gallery for? The young don’t go, and nobody needs the old. I understand that this is the way to pay for education, classes, collective visits, but an ordinary ticket,” commented EL from Panevėžys district on the Art Gallery account on the social network.
“It’s a shame that, even for the heart, art will become inaccessible or difficult for some people. You need to save, but sometimes other factors should also be taken into account”, thought JD from Panevėžys
Not a single commentator is convinced that such an innovation will backfire on the institution itself – it will receive fewer visitors.
From April 1, Panevėžys art and photography galleries will admit only visitors who pay by bank card or bank transfer. P. Židonis photo.
Keep up with innovation
Panevėžys Art Gallery, a branch of which is also the City Photography Gallery, headed by dr. Egidijus Žukauskas claims that these cultural institutions are not joking at all, but are aiming for innovations. According to him, as artificial intelligence and new technologies penetrate today, art galleries keep pace with them.
“Since cash is disappearing, we decided to leave two of the three payment methods in the galleries. It will continue to be possible to pay by bank transfer and bank cards, but there is no more cash payment,” confirmed E. Žukauskas.
According to him, the refusal of cash is not the idea of the Panevėžys City Municipality, the founder of the galleries.
The director assures that they themselves initiated such an innovation.
“The decision is not spontaneous, we have been working towards it for seven years. It was that long ago that we gave customers the opportunity to pay with bank cards. Now they will completely replace cash payments”, explained E. Žukauskas.
Couldn’t get by without a card
E. Žukauskos is not surprised that the news that cash will no longer be accepted from visitors was met with negative comments. According to him, every innovation causes an avalanche of discussions.
“The first ATM in Panevėžys was built in 1996. Then there were negative reactions too. And now it is probably hard to imagine how we would live without bank cards. For example, I buy a newspaper and pay with a bank card. Exhibition visitors will also be able to pay this way,” explained the head of the Art Gallery.
When asked how much money Art and Photography galleries collect on average per month and what part of it is received by bank transfer, what amount is paid by bank cards and what amount in cash, E. Žukauskas said that he really did not know and added that there will be an opportunity to clarify this.
According to the director, giving up cash will make it easier to organize the work of both galleries. According to E. Žukauskas, gallery employees currently selling tickets and counting cash will not be fired – bank card calculators will not replace them.
E. Žukauskos is not surprised that the news that cash will no longer be accepted from visitors was met with negative comments. G. Kartan’s photo.
It didn’t come down from above
Asta Čeponienė, head of the Culture and Art Department of the City Municipality, confirmed that the founder did not really instruct the Art and Photography Galleries to give up cash.
According to the host, making such decisions is the competence of the managers of the institutions themselves, who are responsible for ensuring smooth operations.
A. Čeponienė said that she was in favor of having more and more diverse options to pay for the service received when coming to a cultural institution.
Pay by bank transfer
Gita Laurinavičiūtė, the head of the creativity center “Pragiedruliai”, the youngest cultural institution in Panevėžys, operating in Skaistakalnis Park, explained that most of the educations in this center are free of charge for visitors, they are currently carried out from project funds.
However, there are paid art, design, and textile educations, which are usually ordered by individual collectives.
According to the manager of Pragiedrulių, it is not possible to pay for paid educations in cash, at least at the moment, only by bank transfer.
Since “Pragiedruliai” is a branch of the soon-to-be-opened Stasis Eidrigevičius Arts Center, the money for education is transferred to the center’s account.
Difficulties would arise
Other Panevėžys cultural institutions are not in the mood to give up cash and believe that such an extreme would be inconvenient for visitors.
In the Panevėžys Local History Museum, you can pay for the ticket both in cash and by bank card for many years.
Museum director dr. According to Arūnas Astramskas, visitors are satisfied with this arrangement, so changing it is not even considered.
In the manager’s opinion, if the payment in cash is abolished, the work of the institution would be somewhat reduced – there would be no need to take cash to the bank.
“However, I think there would be difficulties for museum visitors,” A. Astramskas has no doubts.
Will not save at the expense of audience comfort
Spectators of the “Garsas” cinema center pay both in cash and by bank card.
“We noticed that a larger part of the audience pays in cash, apparently it’s more convenient for them,” says director Genė Pučinskienė.
He agrees that by refusing to accept cash, Gars would save money by not having to pay for the collection service. Currently, the institution buys such a service – the cash is transported to the bank not by “Gars” employees themselves, but by hired cashiers. However, according to G. Pučinskienė, there are no plans to save by depriving the audience of convenience.
Coordinate with customers
The accountant of “Menas” theater Alina Bitarienė assured that this institution does not plan to refuse cash payments either, unless it is demanded of them.
“There are two options for purchasing tickets to Meno’s performances. Some buy them online through the bilietai.lt system, others buy them at the theater box office. We noticed that when buying at the cash register, people usually pay in cash”, explained A. Bitarienė.
She considers that even in this age of technology, it is necessary to adapt to customers, and not to dictate conditions to them.
“Recently, when I went to the bank, I heard how the employee of the hall scolded my grandmother for coming to the bank without registering her visit online. The old woman made excuses that she not only doesn’t know how to use the Internet, but also doesn’t have a computer,” the theater accountant recalled.
According to A. Bitarienė, institutions should not create such uncomfortable situations for people, but should adapt to their opportunities.
